The Battle Of Skariff: A Rogue One Story

The New Regime

The thrum of burning thrusters shook the ground underneath them. His skin and chest vibrated and he could feel it resonating through the air. The gray ramp hissed and slowly opened. Out came six troopers, three on each side and they separated, making a clear walkway down the middle.

Cassus was young, not even ten years old yet. He stood next to his mother who held his hand tightly and shook with fright. Even at his young age, he knew she was afraid that they would take him. They were a rather rich family, most people on Kantu were. Trade routes here were enthusiastically successful, with problems and restrictions being a rarity.

That's until the New Empire showed up.

It's been a couple years since the Empire first was officiated and they immediately targeted every trade route and wealthy planet in the galaxy. It took a while for them to get to Kantu, people here were more conservative and initially resisted. But it was hard to cover up everyone's tracks since it had already been a popular system. "Terrorist" attacks suddenly became common in the thread of empirical trade and it was usually the work of previous successful business men, who's work was ruined by the Empire. Word got out, and now the people paid for it.

Kantu was still a rich planet, but only the rich were people who were under the Empire's thumb, or Empirial officials themselves. They fed off the slave work that now ran Kantu's economy. It was well hidden, very different from the usual hard labor slaves. The slaves of Kantu were professional and looked beautiful to appeal to new clients. Businessmen came from all over the galaxy to trade here and ugly dirty slaves were a turn-off.

Cassus now stood with his mother in a long line of slaves on the brightly lit up courtyard in front of the capitol building. He had done this many times before, every month the empire will come and take a few slaves to become apart of the corrupted system. They go to different districts each month so they come here only every six months. Slaves from other worlds will replace the ones taken and the ones taken are never seen again.

The sky was dark, the point in the night where the sun sets but the stars aren't bright enough to be seen. Tall floodlights shone brightly and it pained to look up too high. Cassus just  stared straight ahead towards the ramp that had just finished opening from underneath the massive transport ship.

A black robe slowly walked down the ramp and he could hear the metal boots clicking on the shiny surface. It was a dark figure, someone who Cassus had never seen before on the posters. It was a tall man in a big black suit and a long black cape hung from his shoulders behind him. The one thing that scared Cassus the most was his mask. It covered the man's entire head and was a shiny black. A breath grid stood out in a triangle in front of the nose and mouth. He couldn't see his eyes, only menacing deep black holes.

He stopped and an Empirial officer stood, stiff as a board, and said something to the man. The head turned towards the officer and dismissed him.

Cassus heard a faint whisper behind him, “Darth Vader.” He didn't understand what that meant. Maybe it was the scary man's name?

Everyone was silent. The only sounds that could be heard were the clicking of Vader's boots on the courtyard floor and the wind rushing through the air and passing across your ear. Vader pointed at someone in the crowd and Cassus heard a scream. He turned and saw two Stormtroopers dragging a girl around his age towards the transport ship. Her mother or whoever was watching her was being held back by two other troopers as she tried to stop her from bring taken.

There were a couple more kids who were taken, two more boys. Each one struggled from the grip of the Stormtroopers to no avail and dragged deep into the ship. Cassus kept his head down as Vader paced down the line. He could hear his boots getting closer and a cold chill suddenly came over him. A shadow covered him, and this time he trembled not from cold, but from fear.

He could hear the slow mechanical breaths coming from Vader, who he knew was standing maybe inches away from him.

"This one." A deep mechanical voice said.

Cassus's mother grabbed Cassus tightly into a hug and whispered a trembling phrase into his ear, “always remember that I love you, no matter where you are.”

He was ripped away from her grasp so quickly he didn't get to say anything back. “No, Mom! Wait!” he screamed. Two other troopers blocked her as she tried to run to him. She screamed his name but she knew she could do nothing more. He watched as she knelt on the ground and wailed until he was taken all the way up the ramp.

The crowd disappeared and the hallway he entered was surprisingly dark, like he was being pulled into a cave. He turned the corner and saw the other three kids sitting in a small holding cell, the two boys on the left and the girl on the right. They sat him next to the girl and put his hands on shackles, he winced in pain as they tightened the metal cuffs.

A dark shadow cast over the room and blocked the light. Cassus looked and saw Darth Vader standing in the doorway, his slow breathing and dark presence seemed to be filling the room as he stared.

The girl next to him lurched forward and sent a wad of spit flying into Vader's chest. He didn't even glance down, he just slowly walked over and stood directly in front of her. She held her head high with a defiant and confident expression on her face. It was instantaneously wiped off when a bright red light shot out of Vader's hand and glazed the girl's face. She screamed in pain and tried to back away from it.

Vader centered the humming blade so it was centered between her eyes and said in his deep voice, “Next time you disrespect me, you will not feel the scar.”

She trembled with fright and Cassus could see the red lightsaber reflecting in her eyes and her face glowed red. She nodded once quickly, and Vader disengaged his weapon. He stood and then turned and stared directly into Cassus's eyes, as if asking if he got the message as well. Cassus just dropped his chin to his chest and a chill ran down his spine. He didn't look up until he heard the door close and the thunder of the ships thrusters lifted off the ground.